And other things, I guess…

Author: Merryn

So my confusing franken-title stems from my promise to review Wonder Woman and My Cousin Rachel, which I saw recently (ish). There’s not much I can say about Wonder Woman that hasn’t already been said, so I’ll just mention that I enjoyed it and thought it was a very good superhero movie. Probably one of the best of recent time. I saw My Cousin Rachel too long ago now to make any meaningful comments although I’d like to revisit it, and I’ll say I thought it was a fantastic example of Victorian Gothic drama and Rachel Weisz was wondrously cast as the beautiful and ambiguous, and eponymous Rachel.

A movie I have seen recently enough to remember more than just the basic plot and atmosphere was War for Planet of the Apes. My first foray into the series, despite being the last in the trilogy, I was pleasantly surprised. I had avoided the first two, writing them off as obvious “good guy vs bad guy” action flicks. Well if the first two are anything like this instalment they are measured, emotionally mature and intelligent, delving into the nature of humanity, family and what values can mean in different contexts.

The production value was fantastic. The CGI and motion capture dont just exist to look impressive; they serve to make the apes realistic and relatable. You are never pulled out of the story by laughable CGI faces or obvious technical failings. The only thing that took me out of the emotion was the hilarious vision of a 300lb silverback riding a race horse, but horses are pretty strong so…? The motion capture is brilliant though. In a movie with almost no dialogue the characters emotionally resonated through some fantastic silent acting.

Shot in the Canadian Rockies it’s stunningly beautiful. I get the feeling that sweeping shots of southern (?) Canada can make any movie feel like there’s noone else in the world. It doesn’t feel isolating though; despite the world as we know it essentially ending the beauty of nature remains evident. You feel throughout that nature will always survive, thrive even, despite humans.

GLOW. It’s a very fitting name for this nostalgia drenched, leotard heavy, bright, new Netflix original. Set in mid 80s Los Angeles (palm trees and neon lights abound) we follow overachieving failed actress Ruth Wilder (Alison Brie) as she dives headfirst into the only successful job she can seem to get. Earnest and incredibly hardworking, Ruth can’t get a callback on any audition she does, until she accosts a casting director in the bathroom who lets her know about an experimental show for “unconventional women.” This sets up a great premise to have a bunch of interesting, and very different, women play off each other with real and make-believe wrestling drama. It’s funny, and pretty and very, very bingeable.

Oh my… It’s been over a year and a half since I’ve written anything! I suppose I could blame the entirety of 2016 being eaten up (gobbled and spat out more like) with my honours thesis, but I’m back! For no other reason than I like the sound of my own voice, and I watch far too much television for my own good I’m going to make a concerted effort to write more about the shows and movies that catch my eye.

Recently I’ve enjoyed Wonder Woman, My Cousin Rachel, Riverdale, American Gods and GLOW, so I’ll try and say something about them. I’d ask you guys to suggest new shows for me to watch, but honestly I think I’m bingeing pretty hardcore on my own power!

Today at I finished one of several TV marathons underway this summer holiday. This particular show was Bryan Fuller’s (of Hannibal) Pushing Daisies. I can’t quite remember what made me start watching it, but I think it might have had something to do with having seen The Hobbit, adoring Lee Pace and going from there. We’ll never know for sure.

I found this great photo recently. Well, re-found it actually. I’ve seen it before, but this time I actually saved it. I’m sorry but I didn’t actually take note of the source (not that the blog I saw it on was the original source), but if anyone knows where it originates from let me know! It’s every scene from all seven Harry Potter movies, shrunken down to a mere sliver and put side by side. So cool!

It’s pretty interesting, you can clearly see the golden tones of the first two movies, and how they got progressively darker (literally and metaphorically) as they went on. Also check out the Kings Cross scene in the last film at the end.White!

UPDATE: I think I found the source, here’s a link to a Tumblr that does this for a whole bunch of movies!

It was the holidays. But not anymore. Actually soon it will be the holidays again, thank God. I have been so busy this semester! Mostly with Uni work and good productive things like that, but with more than a little catching up. I’m looking forward to these summer holidays, I’m actually travelling to New Zealand and will be visiting Hobbiton!! Don’t worry, I’ll definitely get some great pictures for you all, so exciting! After that I’ll get back to my usual holiday routine of marathon watching TV shows (I just finished an epic two day marathon of AHS: Murder House while I had a cold earlier this week, so look out for that) and movies, but first I want to talk about movies I watched last holidays. Gosh, so behind with this blogging thing! I actually watched six seasons of Mad Men (more on that later, though probably after the 7th season to be honest) and more movies than I remember, but hey that’s what holidays are for right?

Michael Fassbender and Mia Wasikowska in the 2011 production of Jane Eyre

Anyway, using my above average procrastination skills I stumbled upon this article. I find it’s a very genuine depiction of what teen movies (especially those of John Hughes) can offer. I find the movie snobbery about mainstream cinema and films directed at teenagers so incredibly irritating.

I have and always will love teen movies, no matter what my age. Film makers imbue these movies with all the raw emotion that comes with being an almost adult, but with humour, poignancy, and entertainment. It’s pretty ridiculous how teenagers are one of the most derided group in modern society (in a very ‘first world problems’ kind of way), and yet also one of the most idolised.

Firstly, sorry I haven’t been around in a while. Anyway I was searching for pictures for upcoming posts (I do actually have some things I want to write, promise!) and I found this article about the above outfit from Buffy (so, yes, maybe some posts are Buffy related), which I found quite interesting.

If the link is dead the upshot is that this is possibly the most ’90s’ you can get out of an outfit (oxblood ‘power suit,’ spiky updo, brown makeup, those lapels), but at the time of publishing (late 2012) it was relatively on trend, so the topic of timeless-ness was raised and whether we like things just because media is saturated with them.

“The worst part is, even though I still think the look is laughable, I know that as I’m barraged with images and articles, my eyes and brain will eventually adjust and accept its chicness.”

I found this particularly interesting because I’ve seen it it so often in my own wardrobe and sometimes I wonder if I actually have any taste of my own. Story time! Circa 2007 when skinny jeans were really starting to take over from the baggier styles of the early 2000’s I hated them. I thought they made thin people look like aliens, and large people look enormous. I had a whole rant to my mum about it – I actually remember that. They suited no-one, they weren’t versatile and they would go away soon! Now I own five pairs.

For my part I love every and all of Cordelia’s ensembles, but also probably anything 90s-esque. Except tiny eyebrows. Thank God we still don’t still live in an era of sperm-brows.

Bring It On might be the best “teen movie” I’ve seen in a long time. I felt like watching a bright, happy, frivolous sort of movie but I was pleasantly surprised. Bring It On certainly fulfilled that criteria, but in a more intelligent way than I remember.

Recently aired on ABC was the locally made tele-movie about the life and career of one of Australia’s most famous show girls, Carlotta. Known to friends and family as Carol Spencer and born as Richard Byron, she has a fascinating and sometimes tragic story to tell.

Feathers and glitz for showgirls in Sydney’s Kings Cross

The movie follows Carlotta’s life, beginning as a young boy in 1940s Sydney whose mother (Anita Hegh) is a retired dancer, and whose father is a small minded man of the times. Not much time is spent showing this time period but it gives the audience an important insight into Carlotta’s young life, and the prejudices surrounding even small displays of femininity.